rawvelo energy bars

in common with many strains of life in these modern technological times replete with twitter, facebook and the ubiquitous smartphone, to name but a few aspects of modernity, the business of nostalgia is booming. proffering items, notions and designs from a whole range of bygone eras, we now have the opportunity to relive past delights that frequently benefit from modern build methods. there are, of course, the originals, frequently offering a level of quality rarely seen nowadays and every bit as operable as was the case when they were considered new.

although this can be easily seen from the number of outlets currently peddling (see what i did there?) vintage steel bicycles and frames, it's every but as much en vogue in the drum industry, something of which i was reminded when my online copy of not so modern drummer arrived at my inbox. though i do harbour certain misgivings over the fragility inherent in a 1940s slingerland radio king snare drum, to say little of the prices such vintage percussion can command, a more recently built, yet vintage looking snare drum at less than a quarter of the price once joined my percussive armoury, albeit briefly.

announced at the january edition of namm (national association of music merchants) a few years back, pacific drums brought to market 6" and 7" deep wood snare drums, featuring wood hoops such as those seen on the field drums of yesteryear. since this approximated the look of several vintage snares i'd come across in photos, i pestered the living daylights out of pacific's pr department, along with sending pleading e-mails to my nearest pacific dealer as to when such drums might arrive on british soil.

though taking longer than expected, i did eventually acquire such a drum, one which fulfilled every aspect of my snare-based percussive desire, at least from a visual point of view. sadly, when it came to the auditory experience, it left a great deal to be desired, though it may be that my expectations were pitched several levels too high. hopefully 'tis an experience i'll not repeat, though in mitigation, i was able to trade it in for only a few pounds less than i paid for it.

all's well that ends well.

though you'd hardly call an enterprising mixture of organic and vegan ingredients moulded into soft and chewy energy bars a throwback to more halcyon days, there is every reason to believe that the forthcoming range from rawvelo are in line to create some halcyon days all of their very own. i recently brought these to your attention by way of a recently announced kickstarter campaign to put their own brand of energy bars into full-scale production.

at the time of writing, with a dozen days of the project left, the monies pledged have reached a smidgeon over half the amount required. and without wishing to appear less than partisan in the circumstances, i thought it might be prudent to enlighten you as to the results of that in which you might be encouraged to invest. jason evans of rawvelo was kind enough to send over a few samples of the flavours on offer, all of which are easily consumed by way of their soft chewiness. a far cry from some of the reinforced concrete offerings that used to populate the vintage years of cycling; the items that were nigh on impossible to release from their wrappers without a multi-tool and consume with less than jaws of steel.

i am a firm believer that energy bars are of no use whatsoever to the average cyclist, no matter that which they proffer, unless they taste good. it's a bit like that snare drum; it's no use just looking the part. though medicines aren't necessarily supposed to taste good on the basis that they do you good, i'd be very reticent to apply the same philosophy to energy bars. joyfully, each and every rawvelo recipe tasted precisely as described on the label: chocolate orange, peanut butter, chocolate walnut brownie, and chocolate & raspberry, plus a couple of others that i ate before i looked at the labels (sorry).

i am not sufficiently scientifically or dietetically aware to know whether any or all of the above made any noticeable difference to my velocipedinal performance. quite probably not, since i'd imagine there'd have to be even a hint of performance there in the first place. however, on the basis that any cyclist worth his or her salt will have to take sustenance on-board at some point of the journey, rawvelo's bars are pretty much as good as it gets.